Rapper P.O.S. plays First Avenue, cancels rest of tour

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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Back in the day playing at First Avenue was just a dream for Stefan Alexander.

"This is the best place; this is the place I wanted to play as a kid," he said, Friday night from the famed club.

Headlining a sold out show at First Avenue is where dreams meet reality for a guy like P.O.S, legally known as Stefan Alexander.

It's a crowning achievement, but it couldn't have happened at a worse time.

"Some sort of trauma that made my kidney start scarring, no one knows what it is," P.O.S said of the kidney issues his is battling.

P.O.S is playing First Avenue only.

The rest of the shows on the tour for his 4th album are history.

"To have to stop, put everything I'm doing everything I'm working on hold so I can think about how my internal organs work is baffling," he said before his show on Friday.

For nearly 15 years P.O.S has been running on borrowed time with his kidneys, now, he has to have a transplant and stay on dialysis until he finds a match.

Rapping across the country isn't possible.

The tour is cancelled.

But a funny thing happened when he had to cancel, P.O.S's fellow artists asked him to ask for help.

Within hours, on a website he made a video asking for that help on, thousands of dollars came in.

"Support is the community rallying around him. He is a leader in the community, he influences people's lives," fellow rapper and Doomtree member Sims said.

The last person you will hear saying they make this world better is P.O.S.

But over the years his music has obviously touched his fans because right now, backs aren't turning, they are getting, his.

"To ask for help and have it come thru is one of the reasons I feel OK about not going on tour, not only do they feel it's ok but they will see me when I'm ready, I always want a good show," P.O.S said.